Russia’s missile tests around disputed islands anger Japan

Pacific fleet launched missile drills near what Moscow calls the Kuril Islands but Japan regards as its Northern Territories

Japan has criticised missile tests carried out by Russia’s navy around the disputed islands visited by Vladimir Putin last week amid continuing tensions between the two countries.

Russia’s Pacific fleet said on Thursday that it had fired Bastion surface-to-ship missiles from Etorofu, the largest island in the disputed archipelago, simulating an attack on enemy vessels, hitting all of its targets approximately 300km away.

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Founder of China’s Evergrande jailed for life after pleading guilty to fraud

Hui Ka Yan also forfeits all his personal property and the company he set up is given hefty fines

The founder of Evergrande, one of China’s largest property developers, has been sentenced to life in prison and had all of his personal property confiscated.

Hui Ka Yan, 67 and once named by Forbes as China’s richest man, with a net worth of $42.5bn (£31.2bn) in 2017, pleaded guilty in April to eight charges.

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North Korea fires 10 missiles day after Trump curtails South Korea joint drills

Launches, detected by South Korea and Japan, came after US scaled back exercises with South Korea in apparent overture to Kim Jong-un

North Korea has launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea, South Korea’s military said, a day after Pyongyang shrugged off Donald Trump’s order to scale back US military drills with South Korea in an apparent attempt to resume diplomacy.

The joint chiefs of staff said the missiles were launched from the region of Pyongyang at around 5pm (08.00 GMT) on Thursday towards North Korea’s eastern waters.

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Kim Jong-un’s sister casts doubt on Trump’s claims of secret US-North Korea talks

President says he plans to meet dictator this year but Kim Yo-jong says Washington remains Pyongyang’s enemy

Donald Trump has said he is planning to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-un later this year, though the reclusive leader’s younger sister cast doubt on their communications and dampened hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough between them.

Trump, who also claimed North Korea had 57 nuclear weapons, had suggested he and Kim were holding secret negotiations on Tuesday after announcing the US would downgrade its participation in military exercises held by South Korea, a US ally. Asked whether Kim had responded to his request for a conversation, Trump said: “Yeah, he has.”

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Jaecoo owner Chery takes ‘next step’ in UK push with R&D centre

Owner of firm behind ‘Temu Range Rover’ will open facility in Bedfordshire in autumn

The Chinese carmaker behind the irreverently nicknamed “Temu Range Rover” is plotting further UK expansion with a major research and development centre in England.

Chery, which makes the Jaecoo and Omoda car brands, said the launch of a new R&D site was “the next step in our long-term plan” for Britain as it also moves towards manufacturing its cars in the UK.

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In cutting joint drills, Trump has given South Korea’s president what he wants. So why is Seoul so uneasy?

Lee Jae Myung has long pushed for stronger homegrown defences, yet Donald Trump’s move has sparked alarm in some quarters

At their first summit, in August last year, the South Korean president, Lee Jae Myung, told Donald Trump: “If you, Mr President, become the peacemaker, then I will assist you as the pacemaker.”

The remark at the Oval Office captured the thrust of Lee’s approach to North Korea: dial down the military posturing and make repeated peace overtures to revive dialogue, even if they have been consistently rejected by Pyongyang largely over Seoul’s insistence on denuclearisation.

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US-led drills to end six days early, South Korea says, amid Trump push for Kim Jong-un talks

South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise would end on 21 August at the request of the US

South Korea’s military has confirmed that joint military drills with the US will be cut short, days after Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back the exercises.

In a statement on Wednesday, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said at the request of the US side, the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise – which began on Monday would end on Friday, six days earlier than originally planned.

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South Korea president calls for military independence in wake of Trump call to cut joint drills

Lee Jae Myung reiterates desire for full command back in Seoul’s hands after Donald Trump cuts joint exercises, citing warm ties with Kim Jong-un

South Korea’s president ⁠has renewed his push to regain independent control of the military from the US in the event of war and urged faster progress in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines after Donald Trump’s order to cut joint drills.

On Sunday night, Trump instructed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” this week’s joint military exercises with South Korea, saying the nuclear-armed North “has been unthreatening and respectful” and that the US president had a “very good relationship with Kim Jong-un”.

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Torrential rains kill one in South Korea while Philippine capital battles major flooding

More than 800mm of rain was recorded in the South Korean city of Geoje, which triggered a landslide that killed one person

Torrential downpours that have pounded southern parts of South Korea have killed one person and injured four others, officials have confirmed.

Heavy rains have been recorded in South Gyeongsang province, including the city of Geoje, where the 800-mm deluge triggered a landslide, the interior and safety ministry said.

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Torrential rains kill one in South Korea while Philippine capital battles major flooding

More than 800mm of rain was recorded in the South Korean city of Geoje, which triggered a landslide that killed one person

Torrential downpours that have pounded southern parts of South Korea have killed one person and injured four others, officials have confirmed.

Heavy rains have been recorded in South Gyeongsang province, including the city of Geoje, where the 800-mm deluge triggered a landslide, the interior and safety ministry said.

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Trump orders cuts to South Korea joint drills despite warnings about Kim regime

President says he ‘gets along great’ with dictator but officials say Ukraine war is boosting North’s capabilities

Donald Trump has said he is scaling back joint US military drills with South Korea aimed at deterring North Korea, despite military officials from both countries warning that Kim Jong-un’s regime is learning new battlefield tactics from the Ukraine war.

The drills under Ulchi Freedom Shield, one of two main annual exercises held by South Korea and the US, start on Monday and run until 27 August.

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Rescue teams search for survivors in Indonesia after powerful earthquake

Searchers dig through collapsed buildings and debris after 7.7 magnitude quake killed at least 53 people

Rescue crews dug through collapsed buildings and landslide debris in eastern Indonesia on Sunday as they searched for bodies and possible survivors a day after a powerful earthquake killed at least 53 people, injured more than 100 and displaced thousands.

At least 24 people died in Manggarai regency and 17 in neighbouring East Manggarai, with additional fatalities reported in Sikka, Ngada and Ende regencies, the national disaster management agency said. Rescuers were still searching for people feared buried beneath landslides triggered by the quake across six regencies on Flores, a predominantly Catholic island in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

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Strong 7.7-magnitude earthquake strikes eastern Indonesia, killing at least five

Shallow quake hit Indonesia’s Flores region early on Saturday, prompting thousands to seek higher ground

A powerful 7.7-magnitude quake struck eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, killing at least five people, causing widespread panic and collapsing buildings and homes in a region prone to deadly earthquakes.

Authorities had issued a tsunami warning, which has since been lifted, but there have been dozens of aftershocks, including one with a magnitude of 6.1.

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‘Unprecedented’ rain kills four in Japan as thousands stranded at airport

Evacuation orders issued for 400,000 as torrential rains hit Chiba prefecture as flooding risks remain high despite rainfall easing

At least four people died in eastern Japan after “unprecedented” heavy rain that left nearly 7,000 stranded at Tokyo’s Narita airport, and forced thousands to take refuge in government buildings.

The torrential rains hit Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, on Thursday night, triggering landslide warnings and power outages. Evacuation orders were issued for more than 400,000 people in Chiba and other areas, and about 45,000 homes lost power, as 115mm of rain fell hourly, approximately the same amount usually recorded for the whole month of August.

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Indonesia wildfires threaten orangutans rescued from animal traffickers

Blaze fuelled by hot, dry and windy conditions comes within metres of West Kalimantan rehabilitation centre

Orangutans rescued from wildlife traffickers face a new threat from the record number of fires that have broken out in Indonesia in recent weeks.

Flames have come within metres of an animal rehabilitation centre in West Kalimantan as hot, dry and windy conditions have been amplified by a powerful El Niño and the human-driven climate crisis.

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‘Absolutely unacceptable’: Japan condemns visit by Vladimir Putin to disputed Kuril Islands

Japanese PM says islands seized by Soviets late in second world war are part of her country under international law

The Japanese government has reacted angrily to Vladimir Putin’s first visit to the disputed Kuril Islands, which are claimed by both Tokyo and Moscow.

Japan’s foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, summoned the Russian ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev, while the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, called Putin’s actions “absolutely unacceptable”.

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South Korean airport becomes busiest in world for global traffic amid Iran war

Incheon airport had 38.39m international passengers in first half of 2026, as traffic diverted from Middle East hubs

South Korea’s Incheon airport has become the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, in part owing to disruption in the Middle East caused by the Iran war.

The airport, South Korea’s main gateway, about 30 miles (48km) west of Seoul, handled 38.39 million international passengers in the first half of 2026, according to preliminary figures compiled by the Airports Council International (ACI), the global trade body for airports.

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Passenger jet billed as China’s answer to Boeing and Airbus prepares to make first international flight

The Comac C919 will fly from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, although experts say it could take generations for it to challenge the west’s dominance of the industry

China hopes to break into the world of commercial aviation with the first international flight of a Chinese-made passenger jet scheduled for Wednesday.

The Comac C919 will take off from Beijing capital international airport at 3pm, landing in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, just over two hours later.

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Hong Kong records hottest day ever as Typhoon Dolphin fuels heatwave

Observatory says 36.9C posted on Sunday is city’s highest official temperature since its records began 142 years ago, with storm driving intense heat in region

Hong Kong has officially recorded its highest ever temperature as Typhoon Dolphin swept warm air over the city, the meteorological service said.

The city’s weather observatory posted a temperature of 36.9C on Sunday, the highest recorded since records began in 1884, the Hong Kong Observatory said in the afternoon.

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Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall in China as its strongest storm this year

Tropical cyclone brings torrential rain and high winds to east coast after hitting Japan’s southern Okinawa province

Typhoon Dolphin, the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit China this year, has made landfall on the country’s east coast, bringing torrential rain and strong ⁠winds and triggering warnings ​of flooding and landslides.

The storm has already swept through Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings.

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